


Summer of 69

by DiCreation



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Army, Boys Kissing, Canon Gay Character, Canon LGBTQ Male Character, Character Death Fix, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Falling In Love, Feels, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forbidden Love, Gay, Gay Male Character, Gay Rights, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Lemon, Love, Love at First Sight, M/M, Military, Tenderness, Time Travel, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 06:24:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20353867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiCreation/pseuds/DiCreation
Summary: ...so the Hargreeves siblings were able to prevent the apocalypse thanks to Number Five taking them back in time and stopping Vanya before she caused a disaster. They showered her with love and affection and helped her come to terms with her powers before she even met Leonard. But shortly after that, Klaus has disappeared.His siblings tried looking for him for a while. They checked pubs and clubs and parks and alleys and every shady joint in the city. They checked rehabs and homeless shelters, mental health institutions, jails, police stations, hospitals and even morgues. They interrogated every junky and drug dealer they could lay their hands on, and even Eudora Patch (who survived due to a change in a timeline) tried to help through her channels.It was like as if he just vanished into the thin air.                                                                                     So after a while, they just gave up and put up his picture next to Ben’s.





	Summer of 69

Klaus was standing in the middle of the military camp, shaking and sweating. His head was pounding, his heart racing, his balls tingling. The air was hot and humid, and the familiar smell of jungle tickled his nostrils. The camp looked pretty much the same, as if he never left it.  
Klaus swallowed hard, took a deep breath and entered the tent.  
“Klaus! Where have you been?! You missed dinner, but I kept some canned beef for you, and there are salty crackers…” – For Dave, Klaus has only been gone for a couple of hours. Little did he know. But he’s been thinking of Klaus, worrying about him, kept some food for him. Warmth has spread inside his chest, and his vision got blurry for a second.  
Dave, his beautiful Dave is alive and well, his smile so sweet and warm, and there’s a dimple on his cheek and so much love in his beautiful blue eyes when he looks at Klaus. Klaus stealthily wiped his eyes. He wanted nothing more than just throw himself at Dave, kiss him senseless, hold him so tight his ribs would crack. But there were other soldiers around, so he had to restrain himself. It actually hurt.  
“Dave”, - He said hoarsely, savoring the name on his tongue. “We need to talk, right now. Alone”.  
***  
Five stumbled into the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets. He was wearing a dirty robe over his pajamas and had a half-empty whiskey bottle in his hand. He was obviously drunk as a skunk.  
Klaus was right, Five was addicted to the apocalypse just like he was addicted to drugs. Now that his dope was gone, he felt lost, not really knowing what to do with himself.  
Five found a box of aspirin, took a pill and washed it down with some whiskey. Then he walked over to the fridge and opened the freezer, looking for ice. His gaze fell upon Klaus, laying on the kitchen table, head on hands. A unit patch from Dave’s uniform was clutched in his hand.  
“Klaus?”  
Five shrugged and put some ice in a glass. But before he could pour himself a drink, Klaus snatched the bottle from his hand and gulped down the whiskey as if it was water. Then he dropped his head on his hands again.  
“Hey, what the hell?!” – He cried, but Klaus didn’t react. After a while, he moaned softly.  
“This Dave bullshit again?” – Five asked, without even trying to hide his irritation. Another moan.  
“I could help you, you know” – Five noted drunkenly. “You could get back to him. Save him. Live happily ever after”.  
It took Klaus a few seconds to process. Then he sprang forth like a switchblade. His eyes lit up.  
“Do you still have your uniform?” – Five asked. He looked less drunk, all of a sudden.  
Klaus pulled his old military boots from under his bed, and his dirty, worn out uniform –from behind the laundry basket. When he came back, he found Five in Reginald’s study, in front of an opened safe. There was a military kit bag in his hand, the one he used for carrying Delores around. He was putting money in it, neat bundles of bills.  
“That should do it” – He said. “It’s a lot of money, especially for 1968. Please, don’t blow it all on drugs”.  
“How did you manage to open the safe?!” – Klaus asked in astonishment. – “I told you, I know how to do anything.” – “Well, can you.. fly?”  
Five shook his head tiredly and rubbed his forehead. Then he pulled out a handgun. “Do you know how to use it?”  
“I…uhhh…” – “Good”, - Five put the gun in the bag and added two magazines. – “Why did dad even have a gun?!” – “Does it matter now?.. Okay, come on, give me your hand”.  
“What, this is it?! Already?” – “Why, would you rather wait till the next week?”  
Klaus took the kit bag. His hands were shaking. “Thanks”, – He said awkwardly. Suddenly, he saw a fresh copy of “New-York Times” on the table. “Ah! A proof”- he said, and tossed it into the bag. Five grabbed his hand and clenched his fists. Blue energy field started growing around them, roaring and crackling. There was a swish, and a blur, and then suddenly they were in the middle of a U.S. military camp in A Shau Valley, by the Mountain of a Crouching Beast. A second later, Five was gone. Klaus swallowed hard, took a deep breath and entered the tent. 

***  
Of course Dave didn’t believe him first. He thought that Klaus was pranking him, that maybe he was drunk (he could smell the whiskey in his breath) or gone mental, or maybe it was a beginning of one of those horrible tropical diseases. What he was telling him was so crazy, so…impossible. But then Klaus pulled out the newspaper dated March 11th, 2019. Dave flipped through the pages, and his eyes grew bigger and bigger.  
It was impossible. It was unbelievable. But it had to be the truth.  
“Well”,- He returned the paper to Klaus and giggled nervously. “At least the Red Sox still exist”.  
Klaus rolled his eyes and smiled. Of course Dave had to be a baseball fan.  
…But before he showed Dave the paper, before he even told him his crazy story – the moment they were alone, he grabbed Dave’s face and started kissing him, so passionately it actually made Dave dizzy. From time to time he would draw a breath and throw his head back, just staring at Dave’s face and smiling, tears glistening in his eyes. His hands went cruising all over Dave’s body, touching, groping, as if to make sure that he was real, that he was actually there.  
“Are you all right?” – Dave asked, running his fingers through Klaus’s hair. – “Yeah. I’m just so happy to see you!”  
The world Klaus told him about, the world looking at him from the pages of the “New-York Times” seemed to be amazing. But even more than all the technology, Dave was impressed by the fact that in the future, two guys could be together, out in the open. They could go on a date, hold hands in public and live together without pretending to be just friends or roommates, they could even legally marry each other and have kids!.. In Dave’s opinion, that was wild, even wilder than a teeny tiny phone that fits into your pocket and can do so many things.  
“So how are you planning to go back?” – Dave asked.  
For a second, Klaus looked puzzled. Then, as the realization dawned upon him, his eyes widened and his mouth opened a little, and finally, there was a determination on his face.  
“I’m not” – He said simply. “I guess we haven’t really thought it through. My brother went back right away, and without him I have no way of returning. “  
“So you are stuck here”.  
“No! I mean, I am, but it doesn’t matter. I really don’t give a fuck where or when to be, as long as I’m with you”.  
The words just came out of his mouth without thinking. And right away, he was swept by a tidal wave of panic. What if Dave doesn’t feel the same way?! What if he thinks it’s okay to full around in the military, but he doesn’t want the folks back home to think that he’s a faggot, and there’s a nice girl waiting for him?.. Whatever happens in ‘Nam, stays in ‘Nam.  
“Unless you don’t want me here” – He added quickly. “But don’t worry, I’ll be all right. Somehow. Easy peasy. 1968 has got nothing on me”.  
Dave was staring at him very intensely.  
“Why the hell would you think I don’t want you here?” – He finally asked.  
“I… I don’t know” – Klaus lowered his eyes, avoiding the stare. “I… Well…” – He licked his lips nervously and looked Dave in the eye again. “See, the truth is, nobody ever wanted me. Never. In my entire life”.  
“What are you talking about?!”  
“Well, my mother – whoever she was – obviously didn’t want me. My dad, who wasn’t even my dad, only wanted me as a lab rat. My siblings somehow always could do without me. I hooked up with more people than I feel comfortable telling you about, but none of them was interested in me for more than one night. Few days, maybe. My longest relationship lasted three weeks. Three weeks, Dave! And even then, it was a matter of mutual convenience more than anything else”. Klaus snickered bitterly and added, “Not that I blame them or anything. I guess I wouldn’t want me around either, if I was someone else”.  
Dave took hold of Klaus’s hands and brought them to his lips. He kissed every finger, one by one. “Thanks for coming back for me” – He whispered.  
***  
Dave was lying on his back, wide awake. Words crowded inside his head, pushing, nudging. Words no man should ever say to another man, yet he wants to say them to Klaus, all of them. Soft words of love, of tenderness, how come they’re pressing so hard?..  
Klaus is whimpering a little in his sleep, tossing and turning. Dave wonders if he should wake him up. After they left the base, they came here, to Mai Thi, a middle-aged Vietnamese woman who owned this place – a little disco parlor with a bar on the first floor, rooms with girls on a second. They paid her, of course, but somehow, Dave had the feeling she would have helped them even if they didn’t.  
Suddenly Klaus screams and jolts into a sitting position, panting, his eyes wide and wild in a moonlight. Dave tries to put a soothing hand on his shoulder, but is forced to catch Klaus’s hand instead, to avoid being hit in the face.  
“Klaus”, - He says softly. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You just had a nightmare.”  
Klaus is staring at him in the dark. “Sorry” – He mumbles, still breathing heavily.  
Dave’s heart cracks. He wraps his arms around Klaus, feeling how tense his body is, and slowly pulls him in till Klaus is basically lying on top of him, cuddled in his arms, his head tucked under Dave’s chin. “Shhh” – He breathes into his hair. “It’s okay, baby, it’s just a dream. It’s okay, I got you”. He’s gently stroking Klaus’s back, spreading little kisses on the top of his head, his forehead, his ear, his closed eyes and chiseled cheekbones. Suddenly all the words inside his head burst out uncontrollably, like a flock of birds, they escape into Klaus’s hair, into his skin, they melt into him, and Dave feels how his stone-hard body begins to soften, to relax. He keeps hugging and caressing and whispering something soothing until he feels it’s over and Klaus is calm again.  
Dave’s embrace is strong and warm. Safe. It feels so good. Klaus finally lets go, his tense muscles return to their normal state. He thankfully kisses Dave’s chest and lets the horror fade away. “Sorry I startled you” – He whispers again, and Dave just holds him a little tighter.  
Dave didn’t want to leave first. For him, it was totally unacceptable. Leaving the camp, deserting the army?! Betraying the guys, and his country?!  
But Klaus just kept telling him how wrong and unjust this war was, how many people will die in vain on both sides – including civilians. Women, children, elderly people. What a big, ugly scar this war will leave, how it will be perceived in the future. How it is perceived even now by some people.  
Deep down, Dave felt that Klaus might be right, but it’s not easy to completely change your point of view, everything you have been told and made believe till now, in a drop of a hat.  
“We have money” – Klaus was whispering feverishly. “We can get fake documents and go wherever the hell we want. We can be together, live our life. We can be free”.  
We. It warmed Dave’s heart so much. But he was still reluctant to do what Klaus was asking him to do. Seeing that, Klaus went silent for a while, biting his lip.  
“What date is it today?” – He suddenly asked.  
“November, 6th. Why?”  
Klaus looked aside for a second, and then stared directly at him.  
“By this time tomorrow night you will be dead, Dave. Killed in a battlefield”. – And Klaus described in detail what happened the first time around. And what happened to him afterwards.  
“I can’t take it one more time. I just can’t. “  
Dave kept staring blankly. It’s one thing knowing that there’s a hazard of being wounded or killed, another – hearing a detailed description of your own death.  
“I mean, sure, you’ll be a hero and all that. They will send your parents a medal and a touching letter along with your body. Except there’s nothing heroic in dying on this stupid war. You’re not fighting for something you believe in, not saving anybody, not protecting your home from invasion. You are invading somebody’s home”.  
Dave looked confused. He never thought about it like that. He started feeling a headache and a slight nausea.  
“Last time, you died right in my arms and there was nothing I could do about it” - Klaus took his hand and put it on a crusty stain on his uniform. “Feel that? It’s blood, Dave. Your blood”.  
Klaus said there will be an air attack just before dawn. He suggested they took advantage of the mess and the panic, took one of the jeeps and disappeared.  
“And what if we get killed in the air attack?”  
Klaus smiled, but there was sadness in his beautiful eyes. “Well”, - He said. “In that case, we will at least die together”.  
***  
Allison was watching a Woodstock documentary on YouTube, as a part of research for her new role. Jimi Hendrix was on stage, performing “Lover Man”. The video was taken in the 60’s, so the quality could have been better, but at least it was in color.  
The camera switched to the crowd – cheering, dancing, going crazy. The narrator was saying something behind the scene, but Allison couldn’t hear him anymore: something caught her eye, and her heart missed a beat.  
She rewind the video few seconds back, time and again. She paused it, took a screenshot and spent some time tempering with the editing, trying to enhance the quality. Then she called Luther. “I’m sending you a picture” – She said in a stifled voice. “Tell me if I’m crazy”.  
And there he was, their brother Klaus, who went missing a little over a year ago. Caught on camera looking over his shoulder and laughing, eyes and teeth gleaming. His hair grew longer, and there was a colorful bandana on his forehead. He wore an Indian west over his bare torso, so his Sky Soldiers tattoo could be seen clearly. Despite his unkempt hippy outfit, he looked much better, healthier, somehow.  
He was holding hands with a tall handsome guy in plaid shirt, with piercing blue eyes. From the way they were looking at each other, it was obvious that they are totally, absolutely in love.

**Author's Note:**

> "Summer of 69" is one of my favorite songs, by Brian Adams.


End file.
